How many hours?

prkaye · #1 10-24-2006, 02:25 PM

I know, I know... I post too much on here

I'm curious to know how many hours people are typically taking to finish their RV. For anyone who has finished a slow build kit with matched-holes, straight-forward Lyc installation and no major mods... how many hours did your build take (not including time spent cleaning the shop, daydreaming, thinking, etc).

Has a poll already been taken on this?

cjensen · #2 10-24-2006, 03:10 PM

Well, that's a very wide question because what some consider build time, others don't. I just read two new first flight announcements on the mothership's homepage today from guys that took 4,400+ hours to build a -9A and over 4,000 to build a -7. What is included in that time is not given, but I would guess it's a little more than just touching parts. It seems like the average is around 2,000 or so for a slow build. I've read that there have been some completed in about a thousand hours.

Too hard to tell just what the "real' average time is.

Cartaire · #3 10-24-2006, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prkaye

I know, I know... I post too much on here

Has a poll already been taken on this?

lots of info is already here. I find that searching the forums, google, and a few selected (and bookmarked) builders sites usually answer my questions.

example? try 'engine core' on google. 3 answers on page 1.

good luck!

Brian Denk · #4 10-24-2006, 03:23 PM

FWIW, 30 months for a non-matched hole (but with prepunched skins), slowbuild RV-8, day/night VFR O-360/Sensenich ready to fly without paint. Have no idea how many hours and I think you have to come to an understanding of just what hours constitute "build time". What about laying there before you doze off at night mentally planning the next day's shop time? How about the time spent educating yourself at Bob's Aeroelectric Connection site and planning your panel? I consider this constructive, focused time spent towards the completion of the project, but it doesn't happen anywhere near the work shop. Oh, and I consider "daydreaming" to be absolutely essential. Without a dream, you'd never be doing this in the first place. It's time well spent!

So, I just noted when I put the first parts together in the tail kit, then again the day of first flight. Worked out to 2.5 yrs. Took it to the painter a few months later so I guess it wasn't really "finished" before I flew it the first time...

Total hours just doesn't mean all that much in the grand scheme of things. It will fly when you're done, and not a moment sooner. Then, you discover that you'll NEVER be done and will always be tinkering with stuff. What you think is the perfect engine/prop/panel setup may turn out not to be after you fly it for a while. I recenly pulled the entire vacuum system and gyros out of my plane to install a Dynon D-10A. Such gadgets didn't exist back in '98 when planning my panel! I might even totally redo the panel someday. I'm the manufacturer. I can do this.

For most people with jobs, family and a life outside the work shop, 2-5 years is probably par for the course. There must be a survey here somewhere...

Cheers,

N674P · #5 10-24-2006, 03:32 PM

As Chad said, hours are counted differently by different folks. Working alone or with other helpers? Do you count man hours, or the group working all day as 8 hours? Also, how many hours a month put in on the project will vary a lot - some have all the time in the world, others might be lucky to get in 10 hours.
Also, experience and foresight make a big difference. Mistakes and time spent to correct them takes its toll. Making "improvements" or going with an alternative engine? Many hours...
Myself, I figure 5 years total. Even if it takes more, I'm sure I'll be done before I retire, which will be just fine.

Captain Avgas · #6 10-24-2006, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prkaye

I know, I know... I post too much on here

I'm curious to know how many hours people are typically taking to finish their RV. For anyone who has finished a slow build kit with matched-holes, straight-forward Lyc installation and no major mods... how many hours did your build take (not including time spent cleaning the shop, daydreaming, thinking, etc).

Has a poll already been taken on this?

This question gets asked all the time and there's plenty about it in the archives. However the bottom line is that people may be building the same model RV....but not everyone is building the same plane (if you catch my drift).

I have found the difference in quality of construction between RVs to be really enormous. This is to be expected. Some people love learning, they're patient by nature and they have an innate desire to pursue excellence. Others just want to throw the plane together and start flying.

So the hours it takes to build an RV is meaningless unless you examine the quality of the plane. Only one thing is for sure....the better ones take longer to build than the quickies. It was always the case and forever will it remain so.

rv9aviator · #7 10-24-2006, 05:48 PM

I expect to finish my RV-9A in a total of four years at the rate I'm going now. I would expect to have around 2500 hours of build time at the end. This is only a guess as this is my first RV.

If I had it to do again I would have bought a quick build even if I had to borrow some of the money. I miss too much family time with the wife , kids and grand kids. I enjoy the building process but life is short and sometimes feel I am missing things that are more important. Man, I don't know what started all that rambling but now it's off my chest so thanks for listening.

akarmy · #8 10-24-2006, 07:20 PM

18 months, 1800 hours. Slow build RV9A, Lycoming, Day Night VFR, No Paint, Basic interior. Only me working on it, other than help to rivet the wing skins and fuse turtledeck. However Your mileage may vary. My schedule was 1 day on the weekend for 10-12 hours and 4 nights a week, 8pm - 12am... steady for 18 months.

N941WR · #9 10-24-2006, 08:36 PM

One thing I have noticed it the time it takes to build an RV really hasn't changed much as the kits have gotten better.

I suspect that the limit of builder endurance is around 2400 hours. Back when you had to measure, punch, drill, deburr, and dimple EVERY hole, AND had to make jigs, etc. the planes were much simpler. FP, O-320 powered, Day VFR type of planes. Now that so much work is done for the builder the planes seem to be more complex, thus any time saved building the basic structure is lost in adding complex systems like auto pilots, constant speed props, instruments, fancy interiors, etc.

Just my observation.

FWIW, I'm over 2200 hours and expect it will take me another 200 to 400 to finish my -9 slow build. Part of the reason is I have elected to go with an O-290 which requires some modifications to the standard install and I've elected to fabricate and install a throttle quadrant with an Affordable Panels panel and some other mods. Every change, no matter how trivial it may seem, adds time.

Bryan Wood · #10 10-24-2006, 11:34 PM

Somewhere along the building process I quit counting the time. There were a lot of people that were a lot more speedy than me, and some that will probably never finish. The same will be true for you so just take it all in stride and enjoy the process. The tail kit builds fairly fast and I've heard of people finishing them in a couple of weeks. In reality the average builder will not go quite that fast and in a lot of cases cash flow can be a motivator to pace ourselves. Here are a few numbers that stand out in my mind though for times on my 9a. Again, as a first time builder I didn't hesitate to call the factory or look at others progress on the net. Gary Newsted was about a month ahead of me and his site was helpful all the way through as was Andy Karmy's. Sometimes a nice photo clears up questions on the prints Van's puts out.

Wings- 400 hours including the tanks which took 100 hours almost to the minute.

Fuse- 425 hours to the point that it was sitting on it's wheels with the motor mount installed and the empenage installed, seat backs in and the floors in. This is around the time I quit counting the hours and looking back I'd say it was about 1/2 way finished.

The item that surprised me the most was the engine baffling. One time I took a month off of work to finish the plane because it was very close to flying and then I worked every day for 30 days straight. These were long hours of at least 10 hours with 14 hours not being unusual. When I got to the baffling it was like progress just stopped and I just couldn't get any traction to get going again. 6 days were spent fitting the stupid things and this took so much time that finishing the plane that month was impossible. With steady work the plane flew about 13 months later! Seriously, I misjudged finishing this dramatically!!! The experienced builders told me not to set deadlines, or goals because it adds pressure and sets you up for a let down if you don't meet them. It will simply be done when it is done.

Two quotes I used to bounce around my brain when spending those countless hours in the garage to help keep things in perspective were:

From Rosie: "Perseverance, more important than building skills, is required to finish this airplane."

John Harmon: "Building an airplane is like eating an elephant. If you look at the whole thing at once you'll be overwhelmed, but if you just take one bite at a time eventually you will finish." He likes this line and smiles proudly when sharing it. I gotta say, I like it too.

Best,